Assessment Items from the Evolution 4 Small Group
Goal - understanding role of independent lines of evidence in evaluating scientific theories, specifically evolution.
Learning outcome – articulate that lines of evidence are independent of each other, yet these lines are consistent with evolutionary model and inconsistent with competing models.
Activities: Formative Assessment (In class activity)
Assign students to groups; have each group make predictions for what an evolutionary model (descent with modification) vs. special creation model would make for each of the following:
intermediate forms in the fossil record
radiometric dating
continental drift and biogeographic diversity patterns
existence of non-functional characteristics
homologies in structures and genes
experimental studies
direct observations of human-driven evolution (antibiotic resistance, pesticide resistance, herbicide resistance)
Summative Assessment: What makes a scientific theory strong?
Evolution would be more strongly supported by which of the following observations (choose either A or B):
1. A: Complexity emerges over time
B: Complexity does not change over the history of life
Explain your choice:
2. A: Organisms will have only fully functional characteristics.
B: Organisms will have functional features and features that have no apparent functional value.
Explain your choice
3. A: Variation among organisms will tend to be arranged in nested patterns
B: Variation among organisms will not tend to be arranged in nested patterns
Explain your choice:
4. A. The earth is 4 billion years old
B. The earth is 400,000 years old.
Explain your choice:
5. A: Overall, cave organisms tend to be generally similar to nearby surface-living organisms.
B: Cave organisms tend to most closely resemble cave dwelling organisms in distant parts of the world.
Explain your choice:
Write the number for the question above in the space next to the most appropriate phrase or idea below: _ Historical constraint _ Homology _ “Rabbits in the pre-Cambrian” _ Radiometric dating ___ Biogeography
Goal - understanding role of independent lines of evidence in evaluating scientific theories, specifically evolution.
Learning outcome – articulate that lines of evidence are independent of each other, yet these lines are consistent with evolutionary model and inconsistent with competing models.
Activities: Formative Assessment (In class activity)
Assign students to groups; have each group make predictions for what an evolutionary model (descent with modification) vs. special creation model would make for each of the following:
intermediate forms in the fossil record
radiometric dating
continental drift and biogeographic diversity patterns
existence of non-functional characteristics
homologies in structures and genes
experimental studies
direct observations of human-driven evolution (antibiotic resistance, pesticide resistance, herbicide resistance)
Summative Assessment: What makes a scientific theory strong?
Evolution would be more strongly supported by which of the following observations (choose either A or B):
A: Complexity emerges over time
A: Organisms will have only fully functional characteristics.
A: Variation among organisms will tend to be arranged in nested patterns
A. The earth is 4 billion years old
A: Overall, cave organisms tend to be generally similar to nearby surface-living organisms.
Write the number for the question above in the space next to the most appropriate phrase or idea below:
_ Historical constraint
_ Homology
_ “Rabbits in the pre-Cambrian”
_ Radiometric dating
___ Biogeography